A reporter asked me today, “So, you can only make 3D things by putting together 2D things, right?” This kind of annoyed me so I banged this out. Super hacky because we still don’t have variable power on this machine so it’s multi-pass, and this machine is only at 260 lines/inch at the moment, but it was still kind of fun. Acrylic is 0.21" for scale.
Thanks Dan, that answers a question that has been hanging around in the back of my mind since I ordered my GF.
It appears that chamfering or radiusing edges is very possible, although I guess there will be some trial and error to get it right.
I can’t wait to get my hands on it to try
Cheers
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That’s quite cool! It definitely changes your perspective on how to use the machine!!!
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I am watching threads that deal with depth closely. The resolution is a concern of mine. I have been watching the defocus thread. If the resolution is good enough and there can be a defocused path one can make a fresnel lens out of acrylic. Defocus pass should melt and smooth acrylic, get it back to be see through. Depth cutting to get the arcs needed for a fresnel lens.
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Super cool @dan! I’ve done a lot of 2.5D on a trotec and am really looking forward to being able to do it with my GF.
Defocus pass to smooth might work, but you could also just drip a little acetone on it.
Or use acetone vapor smoothing…
(edit: He is using methylene chloride vapor. No thank you.)
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Really good to see in terms of making dies and stamps for embossing paper or leather among a host of other uses.
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I can’t wait to see things when you do get the variable power on your office machine. Everything about this is EXCITING!
Working with acrylic historically, I would “polish” the cut edge with a propane torch.
I expect with the right focus the GlowForge can achieve the same effect.
Yes! Since it’s a continuous-wave laser you get a beautiful ‘flame polishing’ effect on your acrylic cuts. You can see that a bit on the outside cut.
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Is this possible…even within the 1.5" clearance we have? Variable power acrylic bending?
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I know there has been talk of being able to defocus the laser so I am sure you can do it on a small scale. This may also be an option
Glowforge experiment hopper?
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Here is a topic just about that video of laser origami.